Editing Great Observatories program (section)

=== Hubble Space Telescope ===
[[Image:Hubble Space Telescope (27946391011).jpg|thumb|Hubble Space Telescope]]

{{Main|Hubble Space Telescope}}

The history of the Hubble Space Telescope can be traced back to 1946, when the [[astronomer]] [[Lyman Spitzer]] wrote the paper ''Astronomical advantages of an extraterrestrial observatory''.<ref>Spitzer, L., ''REPORT TO PROJECT RAND: Astronomical Advantages of an Extra-Terrestrial Observatory'', reprinted in ''Astronomy Quarterly'' volume 7, p. 131, 1990</ref> Spitzer devoted much of his career to pushing for a space telescope.

The 1966–1972 [[Orbiting Astronomical Observatory]] missions demonstrated the important role space-based observations could play in astronomy. In 1968, NASA developed firm plans for a space-based [[reflecting telescope]] with a 3-meter mirror, known provisionally as the Large Orbiting Telescope or Large Space Telescope (LST), with a launch slated for 1979.<ref>Spitzer, Lyman S (1979), "History of the Space Telescope", ''Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society'', v. 20, p. 29</ref> Congress eventually approved funding of US$36 million for 1978, and the design of the LST began in earnest, aiming for a launch date of 1983. During the early 1980s, the telescope was named after [[Edwin Hubble]].

Hubble was originally intended to be retrieved and returned to [[Earth]] by the [[Space Shuttle]], but the retrieval plan was later abandoned. On 31 October 2006, [[List of administrators and deputy administrators of NASA|NASA Administrator]] [[Michael D. Griffin]] gave the go-ahead for a final refurbishment mission. The 11-day [[STS-125]] mission by [[Space Shuttle Atlantis|Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'']], launched on 11 May 2009,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/may/HQ_08133_Shuttle_target_dates.html|title=NASA Updates Space Shuttle Target Launch Dates|publisher=NASA|access-date=2008-05-22|archive-date=8 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170508183104/https://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/may/HQ_08133_Shuttle_target_dates.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> installed fresh batteries, replaced all gyroscopes, replaced a command computer, fixed several instruments, and installed the [[Wide Field Camera 3]] and the [[Cosmic Origins Spectrograph]].<ref name="Green Light">{{cite news|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/15489217|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104010540/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/15489217/|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 November 2013|title=NASA gives green light to Hubble rescue|first=Alan|last=Boyle|publisher=NBC News|date=2006-10-31|access-date=2007-01-10}}</ref>